Tomorrow Is Blank
by EkureruRaito
Summary: They were now relocated on Gran Pulse. The fights were over. But was it really the end? Or just the beginning of something else? Slightly AU, takes place in Gran Pulse and Gaia. SEPHxLIGHT, for God's sake. And by Seph, yes, Sephiroth! Full summary inside
1. Prologue: Their Life Now

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Final Fantasy franchise whatsoever, just so you know xDDD**_

***

**Author's Note: Hey there guys ~~~~ It's my first fic ever!!! FIRST-FIC, and it's a FFXIII fic, how cool was that ~:P? Right, I know it's not _that _cool, but anyways, nice to meet you, guys. I've been addicted to FFXIII recently, so I decided to write a fic~ This is actually a crossover between FF XIII and FF VII. **

**Let's see how it goes ~**

*******

**Summary: Now that everyone's moved to Gran Pulse, new things happen. Wait! Gran Pulse's only half of the planet, what's the other half????? *cough, Gaia, cough*. Fang and Vanille came back all of a sudden. Was there a reason for there return? Light travels to Gaia to discover the truth about her parents' death, and met new people *cough, FFVII hotties, cough*. Where does this all lead her?  
**

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**Prologue: Their Life Now**

"Why on earth do I have to do this anyway?" Lightning couldn't hear her answer clear, just then she got head-locked by Fang. "Get off me Fang! And you too, Vanille!" She almost shouted when Fan decided to ignore her and keep doing the head-locking on her right side, while Vanille tried to make Light hold her hands on the other side.

"Onee-chan, just for 5 seconds, aright?" Serah playfully smiled. "What? Even _you_ too Serah?" Lightning looked as if she was really disappointed. "The last person who'd ever betray, betrayed me!" She signed. It'd been what, 1 year, maybe? Time did fly fast. And so did the durations of the crystals did time. Not that she hadn't wanted Fang and Vanille to come back. But... _only a year_? For God's sake, she was kinda _sad _seeing them turning into crystal and all. They shouldn't have come back _this early_.Really. And now they were forcing Light to do this thing, selcam. SEL-FREAKING-CAM.

"Alright girls... Cheese! Here we are!" - there goes her sister Serah's cheerful voice. She'd never been this happy before, always smiling and humming some kind of melodies all the time. "Aww, Eclair, you did it _again. _Why weren't you _cheese-ing_?" Regretfully said Serah, while Vanille was like "_I wanna see, I wanna see!_" in the background.

"Because I don't even understand what that word means, Serah! Anyone, but you too?" Lightning shook her head, then looked at Fang "and I thought _you're _the expert in getting on my nerves, Fang. Guess I was wrong."

"Now now Light, I can't believe you're not even a bit happy about us coming back." Fang said, pretended to make herself sound sad. "It's been, like, a year?"

"It's only _eleven months_, Fang. I thought you and Vanille would be crystalized for, I don't know, another 500 years or so. And no, I am absolutely nowhere near joy and happiness when I saw you coming back". Lightning coldly said, then she heard Vanille sniffing. _Was she about to cry? _"No no Vanille, I'm happy to see you_, but her." _Lightning pointed at her target, Fang, shy she was already taking another _selca _picture with Serah.

"Tell me again, Serah, why do you need these pictures?" Lighting tried not to frown at her younger sister, but apparently, she did. "I'm going to college next month, onee-chan ~" answered Serah, with her humming voice. "It's not like you're moving anywhere, Serah, seriously." Serah looked at her sister with her puppy-dog face "But Lightning, I wanna show my classmates my big sister and my best friends and all."

"Whatever. Vanille, my sister's becoming more and more like you. Do something!"

"What is it, Light?" Vanille asked her back, but she didn't sound like she was mad or anything. This girl was way too naive, wasn't she?

"It means that Serah's becoming cuter and cuter everyday, just like you, Vanille, and less like Lightning." Fang patted Vanille on the back "It means you're cute." She smiled. Vanille was some short of _"huray!"_, while Serah couldn't help but giggled.

"Hey!" Lightning looked at all the three girls. They were all laughing so hard. _"Damn, when did I become a clown?"_

It'd been almost a year now. Things did happen so fast Light couldn't even realize it. Everyone on Cocoon had been safely relocated on Gran Pulse, and all the cities were being constructed. Cocoon turned into a tourist attraction, much to Light's amusement, where they were currently building resorts and spas and whatever. Though there were daily flights to Cocoon - now Crystal Sekai – no one actually live there anymore, well except for the people working there. Sanctum was completed crushed, and Gran Pulse government was now a democracy. Light and the party, with all the money they made during the l'Cie days, were rich enough to buy themselves nice houses in _the _most gorgeous apartment here in Gran Pulse, overlooking the whole crystal-ruins. Lightning and her sister Serah lived in the penthouse of the building, Snow 3 floors beneath them, the Eisthems and Katzroys a few floors beneath that. Since they were back, Fang and Vanille were currently living in Light's penthouse. They took the remaining two bedrooms.

Serah was gonna go to college next month, _Eden University,_ still located on Cocoon, and since she didn't want to live on campus, she would take daily flights back and forth. She had always been a straight-A student, thus she got accepted right away, and it was never their problem paying for her tuition, since they'd inherited much money from their parents, and now all the cash Lightning made last year. Snow became a professional airbike racer, which Lightning thought was a stupid job, everything he did was racing for people's entertainment. Though Serah had no comments on this, and Snow seemed to love his job. Hope got into a top ten high school, his father and Sazh now running their own business together. What did they sell? Well, kids' toys. Dajh went to a nearby primary school, and was currently popular among all the girls, 'cos he had all the _coolest_ toys, according to what he said. Fang and Vanille just came back, they did nothing. They were gonna have to earn themselves a living soon, though. And Lightning? Well, she was back to her old job, but higher position. She was now Commander in Chief of the new Guardian Corps, the organization current reformed to protect the people from all kinds of danger in Gran Pulse.

***

_One hour later_

It was funny how it all worked. They all lost their l'Cie marks, which made them seem normal again, but in fact, they weren't. Lightning and all the gang could still use their magic like they did when they were l'Cie. And they could still summon their Eidolons, too. Not that they used magic and Eidolons much often now, but Light still had one big room in her house, which was namely the practice room, to help herself getting fit. Not that she wasn't.

"Tell me, Light, when did you become stronger?" Fang said as she dashed her way through the practice room. The battle with Lightning wasn't as easy as before. She'd become so strong now, and Fang hadn't touched her spear in one year.

"I'm not gonna tell you. Thundaga!" Luckily, Fang could avoid the attack. Would've been a disaster if she'd been hit.

"Hey! You used magic. I thought we were just practicing combat skills!" Fang shouted "That's it. Bahamu...."

She never had the chance to summon Bahamut, though, 'cos right then did Serah walk in "Onee-chan, Fang, it's lunch time! I made your favorite, Fangieeee, chicken barberque!"

"I appreciate that, Serah. Thank you"

Seeing Fang blinked at Serah, Lightning frowned "No one blinks at my sister, Fang, even that Snow guy is not allowed to".

Fang smirked "C'mon, Light. Ain't homo, ain't into your sister. Besides, that Snow guy is getting married with her in a few years, face it, Light. You agreed to that yourself. And soon he'll be ripping her clothes off!" Then she laughed real hard. That damn Fang.

Serah blushed "Really, Fang... now, are you two coming for lunch or not?" Ms. Oerba Yun really did embarrass Serah this time, Lightning noticed tat immediately, because her sister's ears were turning red. Typical of her. To comfort Serah, Lightning thus teleported to the door, where she was standing. "Coming. I'm starving, Serah". Serah nodded, and smiled "I made you your favorite strawberry cake, Light". Seeing her sister's smile was like a miracle. Lightning could die, just to keep Serah smiling.

"You have enough stamina to teleport?" Fang was already out of breathe. How the hell did Lightning get so strong?

Light patted her friend's back "It's you who's getting weaker, Fang. You really do need some rest, that's all."

"Right..." Fang mumbled as she followed the Farron sisters to the dinning room.

***

Already waiting at the table was, well, everyone. That dummy Snow, Hope and Mr. Estheim, Sazh and his son, Dajh, playful Vanille and even Hina the Chocobo. I was sunny morning, after all. Wait, was it only Light or that _Chocobo_ really has his _own_ plate on the table? Didn't really matter, though, she was starving. Light sat down in her usual seat at the end of the table, the house owner's seat, leaving the seat at the other end of the table unoccupied. Fang took the seat next between Hope and Vanille, giving her sister Serah - who was in the seat opposite to Fang's - compliments on her cooking. This Fang appeared to be nice to almost everyone, except for Lightning. Thinking of that made Light wanted to laugh, but she managed to keep herself calm and cool.

"Shall we eat? I'm hungry" Hope yawned, putting his hand on his growling stomach. His fighting abilities might have changed over the time they were together fighting every single person on Cocoon, but that attitude of him sure hadn't. Still, Serah flashed them all a smile "Right, Hope. Let's eat, guys!".

Then they all mumbled "Itadakimasu!". Actually they all said it out loud, the only one who mumbled was Lightning.

During lunch, the group talked about their reunion just 2 days ago, when Vanille and Fang just happened to be knocking the door, and the one who answered it, apparently Hope, was so shocked that he actually froze. No one'd expected that they would come back this soon. Sure they had hoped that Fang and Vanille would return, but it had only been nearly a year.

Snow was telling some of his boring joke, thus everyone laughed. Light wondered if they were trying to be polite, or was she the only one who didn't get any of it? Hope taught little Dajh some of his so-called magic tricks, but they were obviously _real magic, _he used Fire to burn something in his hand, and Water to fill an empty glass. That was cheating, and since Dajh was only a boy, Light shot Hope a real sharp glare. He just blushed out of embarrassment. _"Still just a kid"_ Lightning thought. The rest of the meal passed by fast, with nearly everyone amazed with Serah's cooking, even supposed-to-be-nice Vanille compared it to Lightning's cooking. And the old time conversation starting with Lighting moaning "She's just better at choosing food" and Serah ending it by "And I'm a better cook, too" somehow reminded Light of the old days. The old peaceful day, when their parents were alive. Somehow, this all made her feel like home, _real home_, again.

***

After lunch, Light decided to take a ride outside, and stopped by a convenience store to pick up some milk for herself, and loads of junk foods on behalf of Fang's requests. Before she put her hand onto the fingerprints scanner to unlock the door to her house, Light could here some loud laugh from the living room. Probably Snow and Sazh. Simply, she smiled, then took a step back, reached the storage pack hanging on her left leg, and pulled out a pack of cigarette. This bad habit just came recently, even when Light had nothing to worry about, she still smoked. Didn't understand why. She just liked the feel of the blurry smoke, that's all. Up 'til now, no one knew she was becoming more and more addicted to smoking, and she knew that Serah would've killed her if she'd found out. Better keep this out of her sight.

Done inhaling half of the toxic contained in the ciggie, Light put it off, then walked into the house. The crowd was still there, in the living room, just that they seemed to be doing their own stuff. Dajh and Hope were playing there non-sense four-dimension games on Light's huge TV screen, Sazh trying to lecture the boys that video games are no good, Vanille and Serah having their endless talks about fashion and the latest trends, while Fang and Snow were discussing something serious, their faces told. But as soon as Lightning walked towards them, Snow's face changed, he "Yo, nee-san!"-ed and winked at her, and Fang was like "Lightning dear, where is my food supply?". Lightning then threw the shopping back to her, stating that "Put my milk in the fridge when you're done with your junks, Fang." before she walked right up to her room, trying to hide her smile.

With all these people around, the place was gonna be a big, chaotic mess, but somehow it didn't matter. They were all here. That's all that mattered. For now.

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**That's it for the prologue! YAY! Can't believe I finished it in the exam week! **

**Not much happened in the prologue, right? Well, it's their normal life. When chapter 1's up, you'll see, A LOT will happen :P  
**

**And WTH??? Lightning smokes? Well, I really did turn her bad, didn't I? Well, there are reasons for this, anyway. In a few chapters, you can see her in leather jacket and knee-high boots and soo on! This is just a beginning.**

**So how was it? Please please please tell me what you think, so that I can improve the whole thing, OK?**

**Feedbacks are welcomed, always.**

**Thanks for reading, guys xDDD**

**[Next chapter SPOILERS] Fang and Lightning have a talk. Light receives an unexpected phone call from a stranger? Who could that be? *hint* He's in FFVII. **

**If you wanna know more, please continue reading :P**


	2. The Day It All Began

**Author's Note: My homework is KILLING me. OMG this is the last update until my exams are finished, I swear. Anyway, I just couldn't stop writing. LOL actually I wanted to let you know what was gonna happen, and be even MORE curious, LOL. I'm evil :]**

**Anyways, enjoy~**

**

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Chapter 1: The day it all began.  
**

"What is it, Fang?" Lightning asked, sounding annoyed. Fang just woke her up at 1 am in the morning, telling her that she "needed to talk". All talks can wait, can't they? Light, however, followed her friend downstairs to the kitchen, got herself a big glass of skim milk before beginning the talk with Fang.

"Light, don't you think it's strange that we went back so soon?" Fang looked at Light in the eyes, sounding no sarcasm at all. "This ain't normal, you know it, Light."

Seeing that look on Fang's face, Lightning slowly shook her head, and tried to give her a smile "Seriously, Fang, this is unexpected, but not _abnormal_. Now you're back, that's what matters. Milk?"

"Is it me or you're trying to make me _feel better_, Lightning? You gotta admit it, it's strange. And I haven't told you the fucking part." All of a sudden, her face expressions changed. She sighed "The thing is, Light, we lost the biggest part of our crystals. What's left is strong enough to barely keep us alive, let alone fight."

"What the..." Lightning stood in shock "I mean, Fang, really?". After seeing her friend nodded silently, Light continued "But the hell would take your crystals away?"

"Don't know. But apparently they had something to do with us waking up, right? Let's take it as a relief." Fang forced her smile.

"If I ever get to see that freak..." Lightning was washing her glass in the sink, almost broke it into pieces.

"Easy, Light. Whoever that is, brought us back to life. Can't thank him enough. I'm just saying, you guys should be careful, you know? Maybe he needs more crystals, I don't know."

"Did you tell Snow and the others?" Light turned back to face Fang.

"I did to Snow. Didn't want to freak Hope's dad and Sazh's son, though." Again, Fang sighed.

"Get back into your bed, Fang. That's enough thinking for one day." Light said, turning off the kitchen's light.

Fang burst her laugh "I kinda feel like Serah now, Light, with you bossing all around. And what if I don't wanna sleep in my bed, but yours?". She touched Light's cheek, which was turning quite red.

"Stop joking, Fang. I know you're not homo, so stop freaking me out." Light pushed her hand away, started picking up her pace upstairs.

"Haha. Lightning, you're not fun teasing." Fang said as she followed Light, and gave her a good-wink. Did this girl have flirt with every single person she knew? "Goodnight, Light".

"Night, Fang". Light said as she closed the door behind her.

That night Light couldn't sleep well. She kept waking up from the same dream. A nightmare, in fact. All those scenes, her father's accident, her mom's last breath, keep coming back to her. Her smoking had things to do with it. Why were the dreams coming back so often these days? She'd always had nightmares in her sleeps, ever since her mother died, but not this often. It only got worse about two weeks ago. On days that she smoked a lot, half a pack or so, she didn't get this dream. Others were disasters.

***

It was about 8 am when Light woke up from her half-sleep, feeling her whole body aching, probably because she didn't sleep well. After getting herself dressed, Light walked downstairs only to hear the _noise. Monday morning, people, don't you have other things to do rather than destroying my apartment? _Well, after all, Light was the only one who had decent job here.

Turned out that not everyone was in the kitchen. Only Fang, Vanille, Snow and Serah. When Lightning saw Snow, he was like "Oops!" and took a step to his right, trying to hide something.

"Hey nee-san! Morning!" Snow winked, still trying to cover something behind his back.

Lightning frowned at him "What did you just break, Snow?". Snow froze. She _knew_ she got him. He'd broken something, _again_. Snow scratched the back of his head: "It's just a jar, Lightning, really, it's nothing".

Before Light could say anything, Fang added: "It would be nothing, Light, only if it wasn't your milk jar." What? _Her_ milk jar? Quickly Light gave Snow a hostile glare, much of what he couldn't avoid. Did he really wanna get on her nerves, right at this time of the day?

"Calm down, Claire. I'll make him clean up, and buy you a new jar, ok?" Serah tried to get Light out of her thoughts of _dismembering _Snow.

"Light Pink. And non-fat milk". She turned away, reaching for the cereals box "I'm good with cereals, Serah, don't do the eggs."

"Orange juice?" sang Vanille. Light quietly smiled at her "Yes, thank you, Vanille." _If only Fang could be this helpful._

"So, what are we going to do today, Lightning? You know Vanille and I can't stay home all day." Fang asked while putting sugar in her coffee.

"You and Vanille are going to look for a job. I'm going to work today, Fang. You can ask Serah to help you, I guess" Lightning glanced at her sister, who was already helping Fang with her bacons.

"That's right! I can help. I've got nothing to do until next month, you see." Serah nodded. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thanks Serah. So... Light, what do you suggest we do?" Fang raised her eyebrow.

"Anything, Fang, anything that keeps you away from my house in daytime would be appreciated. And it'll be much better if it earns you a house, so you can stay out of my apartment at night."

"Ouch, that must hurt!" Snow chuckled. Fang shrugged and said nothing. She knew Lightning, after all. She just never changed.

"What are you doing today, Snow?" Vanille asked as if she hadn't heard all Light's insults.

"I'm doing a race this evening. Wanna come and see?"

They continued their breakfast chitchat, but Light didn't pay any attention to it. She wanted a cigarette badly. Light tried to finish her breakfast as fast as she could, then put everything in the washing machine.

"You off to work early today?" Serah asked as she saw her sister somehow in a rush.

"Yeah. I've got a lot of things to do today, Serah. Take care of those two, would you, especially _that alien_." Lightning pointed her finger at Fang, as Vanille laughed when hearing that word. "Get them something_ normal_ to wear. You can no longer wear that kinda clothes walking in the streets, you know."

"What's wrong with our clothes, Light? We're from Gran Pulse, our clothes from Gran Pulse, _this_ is Gran Pulse, what's the deal." Fang looked at Lightning, somewhat amused. "And when did _you_ start getting into fashion, cold-blooded Lightning Farron?"  
"I'm not interested in fashion, Oerba Yun Fang. I just can't bare looking like a_ weirdo._" answered Lightning. Although she said so, she didn't look at all 'uninterested-in-fashion". Light was wearing her sleeveless white turtleneck, skinny jeans, knee-top leather boots, and a black leather jacket. With her born model-like figure, she looked exactly what you call an IT girl. Even Serah didn't look this good.

"Anyways, I'm off to work now." Light looked at Serah, then handed her a black credit card. _A Black card. _"Here, Serah, take these two to the mall and try to make them look normal."  
"Yes, ma'am." Serah chuckled "I thought you wouldn't mind if I get your cute little sister something, too, right?"

Lightning gave her an amused smirk "Whatever, Serah. Get me some more milk, alright?"

Then she walked to the door, took her helmet, and told the gang "Do anything. Just don't disturb me at work. Later."

Lightning, in fact, had herself a cigarette before she rode to work. Made her feel better. Much better. Speeding like hell on her bike was another aid. Kids now loved airbikes, ones that Snow had, but not Lightning. She still used her motorcycle. It was much faster, and easier to ride. With all the technologies, you didn't actually ride airbikes, _they_ flew for you. Motorcycles weren't like that. You rode them, for real, and if you accidentally slept on your route, you're dead. _Good thing, isn't it?_

It took Light fifteen minute to get to the headquarters of the GC. When Light walked in, everyone stood up, greeted her with there respectful "Good morning, Commander.". At least work's the only place on Gran Pulse where she wouldn't be distracted.

***

_At about 2pm._

Lightning was checking all the areas surrounding the crystal-ruins on her screen, making sure that it was safe there, because there had been reports that there big holes were beginning to appear. She wondered if Fang and Vanille's returns had anything to do with this. Their return was, after all, a mystery.

Then her cellphone began to ring. No ringtones, Light hated those, but its vibration still annoyed her. She'd tried to turn off the vibrate mode, but Serah was so pissed off she could never call Light that she had to put it on again.

It wasn't Serah, though. Or to be exact, it wasn't _anyone_. The number was marked as unknown. Usually Lightning never took these unknown calls, but out of curiosity, she picked it up.

"Hello?" Light asked. Silence. "Who is that?" She frowned.

...

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Miss Farron. My name is... Rufus Shinra."

...

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**So... how was it????**

**Right, you know it now. The caller's Rufus Shinra. WTH does he want from our Lightning???**

**Do you wanna know?**

**I'm so excited to write this fic, guys, but probably I won't be updating until my exams are over. So please be patient.**

**The next chapter's coming at the end of this week, I promise.**

**Please read & review, ok guys? All feedbacks are welcomed :]**

**Ekureru**

**[Next chapter SPOILER] What is Lightning up to, now that she received a call from a total stranger? WTF?? You're LEAVING, Light??? But WHY???  
**


	3. Lone Wolf

_**Author's Note: ALRIGHTIE guys~ My second chapter is here. Yay yay!!! Sorry for all the delays, k? **_

**Anyways, as you can easily notice, the writing in this chapter has improved MUCH. It's all thank to my AMAZING beta reader - IceBlazed and all her help. Without her, the early version of this thing SUCKED, and now it's SOOOOOO cool~ Thanks a lote, Ice x3333. I've read through all the corrections, and I'll try to improve myself next time. Ha, actually I'm gonna buy a Thesaurus dictionary to find words that can be used to replace "said", so no worries. Thank you for all your help, my friend x3333**

**That's enough talking. Read this chapter, please, guys, and make sure you do REVIEW it, k? **

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Lightning was on her way home, speeding so fast that she couldn't even see the road clearly. Not many people actually drove these days, so that wasn't really a big problem. The only thing on her mind now was what Rufus Shinra had told her earlier. _Damn him_. She had tried so hard to forget it and live on with Serah, her one and only family left. And now, all of a sudden, that man… he brought it all back. For what reason, really?

_I don't know him, why should I believe in what he said? Come on, Lightning Farron, you know that they died of illness. You _know _it._

… _Do I?_

Suddenly:

_What the!!!???_ Some guy just scratched her bike! Her goddamn _flawless_ black motorbike! _Scratched!_ "Hey! Watch it!" He _was _even shouting at her! _For scratching _my _bike!_ Lightning turned back to see who it was and shot him a dirty glare. _Fuck, it was you in _my _way!_ _And you fucking scratched my bike with that dirty old station wagon of yours!_The guy even flipped the _middle finger_ at her! _Rude_ much?! _That's it!_

Light turned the bike, sped up, and soon was racing the rude guy. She braked right in front of him, making him fall hard just to stop. Lightning switched the engine off, stepped down from her own bike, and took her helmet off. She then examined the scratch. _Ha!_ A _nice_ seven-inch long scratch detailed the body, leaving red paint from that stupid thing on her bike. _Great. All I ever I wanted._

Still checking out her ride, Lightning never noticed that the other had been next to her the whole time, crossing his hands, looking at her with that angry look in his eyes. He was huge, not as huge as Snow, but really buff, like Gadot. He had tattoos all over his arms, his hair was a green mohawk and even his lips were pierced. _A punk. _

The punk guy pointed his finger at Lightning. "You there! You fucking nuts or something? Stopping right in front of m—?" Immediately when Light gave him another furious glare, he shut up.

"You. Scratched. My. Bike!" Light coldly replied. "No one _ever_ scratches my bike." Her voice was emotionless, making her all the more intimidating as she narrowed her eyes at him. She hadn't used this voice for such a long time. Ever since she first heard that her sister Serah had been dating Snow.

"Whoa, _excuse __**me,**_ Lady! Look at my damn car, for Eden's sake. Don't you even know who _I_ am?" He replied haughtily and started laughing. Lightning glanced at his wagon. _Wait. Isn't that…!?_ On its body, there was a familiar logo. Two snakes, _no_, two cobras biting each other's neck? Wasn't this… the symbol of that gang? The Cobras? The guys who had been racing around Crystal City, robbing from women and kids? Them?

Seeing that, Lightning already knew who he was. The punk continued laughing. "Hahahaha! I hope you know who you're dealing with, _babe_. Don't worry, sexy, I'm not gonna hurt ya; you're just one hot chick. Come here and have some fun with daddy, would ya?"

As he spoke, he walked closer to where Lightning was standing. The closer he was, the more disgusting his body and breath smelled. How long had it been since this man had showered _properly_? He chuckled, his stained, dirty teeth looking as if they were about to bite her, the way he kept clicking his teeth. Just thinking of what this man thought he could do to her disgusted Lightning.

"One fucking step further and you're dead." Calmly stated, she glared at the criminal with a ferocious look. _Did Punky_ _just ignore my warning?_ He stepped even closer now; ready to touch Lightning with his hand stretched out and reaching for her. "Watch your language, beauty. Some guys make take that dirty mouth of yours literally." He eyed her up and down lustfully as if she were a piece of candy. "Where have you been all my life, babe? To think I never noticed such a sexy chick right here…"

It was then that Light lashed out and kicked in the middle of his cocky face, making him grab his nose painfully. "Bitch! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He looked at Lightning, half-scared, half-angry. Lightning, still showing no expression on her face, answered coldly yet angrily: "You deserve it. Now shut up."

"YOU'RE DEAD, WOMAN!" screamed the guy. He hauled back his fist, ready to punch Lightning. She dashed to avoid his attack and, before he could even acknowledge what had just happened, he received another kick, this time to the back of his head—and then another to his back.

In thirty seconds flat, the criminal was lying on the ground, bleeding from his mouth with bruises all over his body. While letting Odin _crush _his wagon, Lightning managed to phone the Guardian Corps hotline and told them that their leader – herself – had beaten up a guy in The Cobras and that he needed an ambulance. Lightning proceeded to leave.

_What the hell is wrong with me today? I could've just frozen him with Blizzaga… Doesn't matter. He's a criminal…_

_Ten minutes later, at Lightning's apartment,_

"Yo Sis! You're back?" Snow was sitting in the couch, playing video games with Hope.

"Hey Lightning!" Hope said as he saw Light walk in.

"Snow, why are you always here in my house? And Hope, aren't you supposed to be doing homework or something?" Lightning frowned at the two guys.

"Umh, Sis, it's Monday night, remember?" Snow asked, looking nervous.

_Monday night. What's up with Monday night?_

"Hey Sis, you're home early today aren't you? Oh, I know, you're preparing for tonight!" Serah walked into the house, followed by Fang and Vanille.  
"Yeah I can't wait for it! A sleep over party on _Monday night_? Sounds cool!" Vanille cheerful piped.

Fang nodded: "Yeah. Whoever came up with this idea must be brilliant. Oh and I'm supposing Ms. Frown here isn't opposed to it." She patted on Light's back. "So Light, what're you gonna wear for the sleepover party? Pajamas? Or your pink night gown?"

_Oh shoot! The third Monday night of the month? Holy shit._ It was Serah's monthly party, in which they all gathered and had dinner together, played video games, watched movies, and finally slept in the living room, all together. Lightning had never approved of this idea of Serah's, but she never showed it. Her sister sometimes needed to have fun.

"Actually I'm not going to party with you people tonight. Sorry, Serah" Light said, as she examined Serah's face to make sure that her sister wouldn't burst into tears or something.

"Claire, it's the first time we have Fang and Vanille here. You gotta come."

Still, Light was stubborn. "I apologize, Serah, but I'm not in my good mood. I'll just ruin everything. So just let your sister stay in her room while you're partying, OK?" Light patted on Serah's head, trying to sound as calm as she could.

"But you'll be eating dinner with us right? Our big, happy family dinner." Serah as with her _innocent_ tone and her _puppy-dog face_, giving Lightning only one option to choose from.

"Yes, I will, Serah." She sighed.

Light received a "YAY!" from both Vanille and Serah.

Light never noticed, but Fang was holding ten shopping bags, _all _bought with Lightning's cash. Also Vanille and Serah each had three or four bags on their days. Noticing that Lightning was staring at the things she was holding, Fang laughed "Yeah, sugar, you're one rich little girl. I never thought you'd have that much money. Remember the time when we fight about whose weapon to upgrade first just because we didn't have enough cash?"

… _I do... It's been a year already?_

Serah rushed over to Snow's side and started telling him everything about her day. Vanille and Fang helped carrying all the stuff upstairs. Hope continued to play his video game with Dajh, while Sazh kept babbling. "Hey! That's not how you do it. Gimme the controller and I'll show you how it's done." thus he kept being ignored.

"I'm going to take my shower, people. Just don't disturb me."

"Be quick, Light! You don't want Snow to eat all your food, do you?" Serah called as Light walked upstairs to her room and shut the door behind her.

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! _Lightning punched at the wall of her bedroom every time she thought the word, she punched and punched until she couldn't feel the burning pain in her knuckles any more, far later when they'd gone numb. Light looked at her hand, tried to move her fingers to see if she could continue to use them. _Shit, I need a shower._

"Cura." Light mumbled, casting magic on her broken fist. She never noticed how useful Cura was, when they were not fighting for their lives or anything at all. She just healed her bleeding knuckles with Cura, though it still hurt, no one would see any trace of blood whatsoever.

Lightning was now in her hot bath, smoking, and _forcing _herself to relax, but obviously she couldn't. That phone call with the unknown man called Rufus Shinra kept making her think.

"_Hello? Who's there?"_

_"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Miss Farron. My name is... Rufus Shinra."_

Who?

"_Who are you, and how do you even know my name, let alone have my number?"_

"_Ms. Farron, I know it may sound like I'm crazy, but I have information on your parents' murder, which I believe you may find interesting."_

"_I repeat, who are you?"_

My parents' murder? Is he nuts or something? For Eden's sake, both my parents died of illness.

"_I'm not from either Cocoon or Gran Pulse, Claire. I'm from a place called Gaia, and that's also where your parents..."_

"Hey Light! Are you done with your shower? It's been almost an hour you know. We're starving here, Lightning!" Fang was right out there at her door, knocking and shouting. Light put off her cigarette, which had long since burned down, as fast as she could and screamed back.

"I'm drying my hair, Fang! You go eat first! Don't wait for me!!!"

"Alright, honey, honestly I did suggest that we dump you and start eating, but Serah sent me here to check on you. You sure?"

"Yes, Fang. Go eat already."

_Crap, she didn't happen to notice the smell of my cigarette, did she?_

Fifteen minutes later, Light arrived at the table where everyone was already eating. Her hair was dried by Aero, so she wondered if it was kinda spiky today. The damn hair-dryer broke, there was no other way. Thank God no one noticed. Lightning appeared in her white T-shirt and denim shorts. In a second, Light could have sworn she saw Sazh, Mr. Estheim _and _Snow's eyes widened and their expressions went slack, like they were _drooling over_ her, though they all turned normal when she looked at them.

"Holy cow, Lightning, you just beat Vanille at bathing for so long." Fang said as Light sat down to her seat.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you, Fang." Light coldly replied.

"Ha, you're shameless, aren't you?"

"Another compliment? Why, aren't you pleasant today, Fang?"

Things were fine during dinner, nice food, nice talks ( Lightning didn't pay any attention to the conversations, though ) until Serah brought _that topic_ up.

"Hey Sis! I still got your black card right here. You want it back?" She was singing and smiling at Light.

"No, actually, Serah, you can keep it, in case anything happens... I'm just not gonna be here for a few days." Light admitted with hesitation in her tone.

"What is it, Claire?" The way Serah sounded, Light could tell she was shocked.

"What do you mean, 'not here', Sis?" Snow added, just as bewildered.

"I just need to go somewhere for a few, days—uh no, weeks, Serah. Calm down, it's nothing big." Light tried to make it sound normal that she would leave _and _return.

She, however, failed. Serah kept asking. "But to where? Why? And when?"

"To Gaia. I have some things to take care of. As soon as possible, tomorrow would be good." _Did I just say tomorrow?_

"Wow, Lightning. You mean, Gaia, as in 'Gaia, the other side of the world?' That's not a place where little girls should be, Light." Sazh said, worried.

Then Fang added "No, seriously, Light. Even us Pulsians are afraid to go there." She looked at Vanille, and the younger girl nodded.

"It's suicide going there, Light."

Lightning looked at her teammates and frowned. "There are freaking commercial flights to Gaia every day, people, every-single-day. It's not _that_ dangerous."

Fang sighed: "Babe, do you really think people travel to Gaia for sightseeing? Oh c'mon Light. Those freaks are bounty-hunters and criminals on the run, that's all."

"Ha! Whatever you say. I'm still going." Lightning said, half-smirking, half-frowning.

Suddenly Serah stood up and looked her sister in the eye. "No you're not, Claire. There's no way you're going to Gaia." Lightning, still sitting comfortably, wasn't quite capable of hiding her angry look: "What is it, Serah? You think _you_ can stop _me_? I told you, I'm not doing anything dangerous." _Liar._

"But you promised you'd never leave me again." The younger girl wiped her tears as she cried.

"That's enough, Serah. You know I'm not changing my mind, even if you cry." Lightning crossed her arms and looked away to avoid her sister's tears. _I know she'd be like this. Just, be strong, Lightning._

Her sister, however, continued crying. "You're NOT going anywhere, Claire!" Her voice weakened to a plead. "Please don't go, Claire. Please. It's dangerous."

Lightning stood up this time, sounding even angrier. "I hate repeating myself all over again, Serah. I'm going to Gaia and that's final."

This time, Serah almost screamed at Light, which surprised everyone on the table: "IF YOU REALLY ARE GOING THERE CLAIRE, I WILL NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN. EVER! YOU PROMISED!" Light, looking a bit surprised, frowned and walked away.

"Fine. It's all settled, then. I'm taking the earliest flight tomorrow. And none of you needs to see me off."

_I never thought it would end up like this... _

As she paced up to her room, Lightning sighed. _Tomorrow's not gonna be beautiful. _

"Hey Light. What's up with you?" Fang asked, knocking on Light's bedroom door.

Lightning, now sitting on her bed, smoking to calm her nerves about what happened in the living room, answered shortly. "Nothing, Fang. Just go away."

Fang, still knocking, spoke with her abnormally serious voice. "Open the door, Light. I know something's up. We need to talk."

"You there all by yourself?" Light asked.

"Yeah. Don't need hide anything, Light. Just open up." Fang replied, already sounding like she knew what Lightning was doing.

Light unlocked the door, throwing Fang a come-in look, the cigarette still between her fingers. Fang followed her into the room, saying nothing. After making sure that the door was locked, she finally said. "What the heck happened to you?"

"Nothing. I've been smoking for almost half a year now. Makes me feel better, Fang."

Fang shook her head. "What happened to the old Lightning, then? You ain't like this, Light. You always loved your sister so much that you would die for her, Light. And you were always so strong and calm and smart and everything. Now you're back to being cold, emotionless, distant. You're not all here with us, even when you're sitting right in front of us."

"I'm still freaking the same, Fang. If you are just trying to tell me how much I've changed, then you've failed. Leave."

Fang picked up Light's cigarette pack and sighed: "No. I'm just trying to figure out why you're running away to Gaia, Light."

Lightning coldly glared at her warrior friend: "I'm not running away from anything, Fang. I just have things to deal with in Gaia. And I'll be back when I'm finished, OK?"  
This time, the one frowning was Fang. "Oh, will you? I know something's on your mind, Lightning. I know you too well to tell that you're nowhere near fine. You're just trying to run away from your life, Light."

"_I am not __**running**_ _away!_"

"Then why don't you tell us what you're up to, Light? Maybe we can help." Fang patted on Light's shoulder and sat down next to her.

"I _can't._ It's something I have to do alone, Fang." Lightning sighed deeply.

"You're still one stubborn little soldier, aren't you Light? Alright, I'm not forcing you. But really, call me whenever you need, OK?" Fang walked to the door "Goodnight, Light. And good luck tomorrow."

"Night, Fang. ... Thank you." Light had already lit up another cigarette.

"Oh and Lightning." Fang paused the door "Serah's been crying like hell since dinner. Guess there's no party tonight. You really should do something about it, Light. She's just worried about you, you know?"

Lightning sighed, but didn't answer. Fang then closed the door behind her. Lightning inhaled deeply on the cigarette.

_I'm sorry, Serah._

_I'm sorry. _

* * *

**That's it for now. Ice, I hope you noticed the things I've added, lol x333. I promise I'm not that kinda lazy, laid back beta'ee, so no worries xPPPP.**

**Guys, I'm feeling terribly sorry for saying this, but I'm gonna have a nice 3-day-trip to the beach with my family, starting tomorrow, so I won't be writing anything this weekend. It's 1am here, and the train leaves at 7, but I'm still up finishing this chapter, so DO TREASURE it, LOL. haha jk x333**

**Anyway, ANY feedback is appreciated. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review, guys, ok? this is my first fanfiction, and Chapter 3 is the first chapter that has ever been beta-read, so I hope it's better than the other 2, LOL x33**

**Thank you for all your reviews and subscriptions. Kept me continue writing xDDD**

**Enjoy this chapter, and wait for the next one, ok?**

**EkureruRaito ~**

**and..**

**YOU'RE AMAZING, ICE. THANK YOU X333**

**[ and guys, sorry if the line break thingie didn't work O__O. I tried times, saved and line breaked and saved and there it was, man. So no line breaks for this chapter " I'll try to fix it when we get home " Sorry guys. ]  
**


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